US-born "king of stop-motion animation" and special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen died aged 92 in London

YES he is no more!

US-born "king of stop-motion animation" and special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen died aged 92 in London on Tuesday, his family announced.

His great work behind Star Wars, Clash of the Titans 

Steven Spielberg said Harryhausen's "inspiration goes with us forever" while "Avatar" director James Cameron stressed that Hollywood science fiction practitioners had been "standing on the shoulders of a giant."

Director Peter Jackson called the "Lord of the Rings" his "Ray Harryhausen movie".

The art of his earlier films, which most of us grew up on, inspired us so much. Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no Star Wars," he added.

Britain's Nick Park, creator of "Wallace and Gromit", called him the "king of stop-motion animation".

Harryhausen, who was born in Los Angeles in 1920, attributed his fascination with special effects to Willis O'Brien's creations in 1933 classic "King Kong".

Other credits throughout his distinguished career include "It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)", "One Million Years B.C. (1966)", and three films based on the adventures of Sinbad.

"Harryhausen's genius was in being able to bring his models alive," said the family statement.

"Whether they were prehistoric dinosaurs or mythological creatures, in Ray's hands they were no longer puppets but became instead characters in their own right, just as important as the actors they played against and in most cases even more so," it added. (AFP)

Unilever Pakistan launches “Cornetto Music Icons”

Unilever Pakistan launches “Cornetto Music Icons”
Platform to discover new talent and celebrate the bond between the present and future of Pakistan music

In collaboration with some of the most renowned artists of the Pakistan music industry, Cornetto, the most popular frozen dessert brand amongst the Pakistani youth, is bringing a fresh music platform, the Cornetto Music Icons. Cornetto Music Icons will begin airing on 28^th April 2013, with one episode every week. The show aims to pick the best of the wellspring of the new vocal talent from the Pakistani youth and mould them into future icons through a 10 episode TV show on the ARY Network and PTV starting end April 2013. With the selection phase about to come to a close, Cornetto Music Icons is now poised to bring to you the platform to spot the next great voices of this generation.

A whole slew of artists will be involved in the project comprising of big names such as Ali Azmat, Strings, emerging stars such as Meesha Shafi and Zoey Viccaji, and a legend of Pakistani pop, Alamgir. These artists will be the primary mentors, with mentoring musicians such as Salman Ahmed, Aamir Zaki, Omran Shafique, Shallum and Faisal Baig lending their talent to bring further diversity to the music. The shepherd for the show is of course Shahi, as the music maestro and talent selector, accompanied by Ahmed Ali Butt and Cybil Chowdry as the hosts of the star-studded extravaganza that is Cornetto Music Icons.
Shahzad Hasan (Shahi), an original member of the legendary and iconic band Vital Signs; one of the earliest acts responsible for introducing and establishing the Pakistani Pop music industry, will lend his rich experience and partner with Cornetto on this project as the music producer and talent selector.Shahi has produced hundreds of hits and created innumerable stars, and is now for the first time pairing up with a Brand to bring together a show that showcases the journey of music production, accompanied by a stellar group of the biggest names the Pakistani Music Industry has to offer. Shahi commented “It’s been a dream of mine to work on a project that’s not only about creating music, but also about creating new talent. Cornetto Music Icons has given me and Pakistan a platform to revive the Pakistani music industry.”
Umar Farrukh, Marketing Manager for Wall’s Pakistan commented “Cornetto Music Icons is a unique and unprecedented music project to take Cornetto’s association with music to the next level. It is an effort to celebrate the undiscovered yet profoundly rich talent of Pakistani youth and to give them a platform to make it big while strengthening the bond with the music industry.”
Cornetto, has maintained a longstanding relationship with the music industry, partnering with some of the country’s most well-renowned bands such as Jal, Call & Noori in the past. Globally, it has been linked with music as a mainstay platform for the brand, partnering with MTV and linking with local youth icons in most countries where the brand is present.
The launch was organized by Catwalk Productions and the PR handled by Catalyst PR & Marketing.

Cricket in Romania and Interesting Experience

Baneasa CC wins "Shamsher Singh Inaugural Trophy" on strength of Net Run Rate. Captain Saad Mohsin receives trophy from State Secretary for Sport, Ms. Carmen Tocala.

MESSAGE FROM CRICKET ROMANIA




To inaugurate the opening of the turf cricket square in Moara Vlasiei, Ilfov, we are holding The Shamsher Singh Inaugural Tournament where six of the eight cricket clubs in Romania, will be represented in a four team competition over Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st April 2013.

The tournament is dedicated to a lover of cricket and true friend of Cricket Romania who was one of the key instruments in helping to bring Cricket Romania to its present state. Shamsher (Bobby) Singh, based in Jaipur India, passed away most unexpectedly last month. He was 40 years old.

The competing teams are as follows:
BCC = Baneasa Cricket Club, Bucharest
CCC = Cluj Cricket Club combined with Banat Lions & Timisoara Titans Cricket Clubs from Timisoara
TCC= Transylvania Cricket Club, Bucharest
UCC = United Cricket Club, Bucharest

The schedule of the six matches to be played is:
Saturday
09.00-12.00 TCC v UCC
12.15-15.15 BCC v CCC
15.30-18.30 UCC v BCC
Sunday
08.30-11.30 CCC v TCC
11.45-14.45 CCC v UCC
15.00-18.00 BCC v TCC

You are cordially invited to come to watch the matches at any time over these two days. Please see the accompanying map on how to get to Moara Vlasiei.

Moara Vlasiei is the first turf cricket square in Central and Eastern Europe and is said to become one of the most beautifully located cricket grounds in Europe. Spread over a five hectare area, the ground overlooks a lake with a background of a forest reserve. The whole complex is under construction where a state of the art cricket academy is to be built - a project expected to be completed by 2015.

Over the two days arrangements a catering unit will be available at which players and spectators can buy snacks - sandwiches, chips, fruit, and drinks - beer, soft drinks tea and coffee - at reasonable prices. However if you wish you may bring your own. While there is some seating arrangements you may wish to bring your own folding chair or blanket to spread out over the slopes around the playing area and to watch the matches in very serene, quiet and spectacular surroundings. Weather forecasts seem to be favourable. Sunglasses, hat and sunscreen are recommended!

Every team has a quota requirement to play at least 3 Romanian born players in their side. Also for the first time - a handful of young Romanians under 15 years will be providing substitute support to the teams as they initiate themselves into the senior version of the game.

We would be delighted if you would honour us with your presence! 

https://www.facebook.com/events/561724613872191/

Magnum ice cream had a royal launch

Is there anything better than chocolate? Hmm…Maybe only premium ice cream coated with the finest Belgium chocolate. No one knows that better than Unilever’s Wall’s and the company proved that through their royal Magnum® ice cream which was recently launched in Pakistan.

And when it comes to putting together a posh event and spice it up with the most refined sweets, no one does it better than Catwalk Production and Catalyst PR and Marketing.

The launch event was attended by some of the biggest names in media and fashion in the country headlined by an original musical “A Royal Remedy” set in 17^th Century France, with a stellar cast and production team. The musical was written by Uns Mufti especially for the Magnum launch, directed and choreographed by Nida Butt with seasoned actors Sanam Saeed, Rubya Chaudhry, Faraz Lodhi and Momin Zafar in lead roles.

I have to say that I have a bit of a sweet tooth myself (if you didn’t know that already) and that one of my weaknesses is ice cream which, by the way, I don’t consider to be a desert, but as a heavenly gift and a well-deserved reward. 

Magnum ice cream is definitely one of my favorite superstore ice creams and I enjoyed it everywhere I went from Paris to Dubai and, of course, Karachi.

Bio food Romania vs. Pakistan

One of the most recent concerns of people around me is related to food or, to be more specific, to the quality of the ingredients available on the market.
There is no surprise for anyone that chickens are raised with hormones, fresh vegetables are actually full of chemicals and, most probably, genetically modified, imported fruits are more harmful than we may imagine, milk is actually some rice flour with water and other ingredients that have nothing to do with real milk and that almost everything in the supermarket is based on chemicals that are harmful to our bodies.
People around me started to look for connection in villages where the ingredients are still as natural as possible. There are networks for different things one may need from tomatoes to eggs, turkey or cheese and sometimes I feel like we are an underground society.
And then I remember that I never questioned the quality of the ingredients in Pakistan. The Pakistani weather is very favorable for growing lots of fruits and vegetables and whenever we bought something from the market, it smelled fresh...it actually smelled like the real thing. The chicken meat was not done in 20 minutes like I was used to from our hormone-filled chickens. Instead I had to cook it over and over for maybe one hour. Milk was creamy and tasty and fruits were to die for.
I really miss all those fresh ingredients now and I am sorry I did not value them more while I was able to enjoy them there.

My Journey to Pakistan: Reaching the end of the world as I knew it - Part 2

Reaching the industrial side of Karachi made me more aware of the huge differences and of the immense gap between the more and the least fortunate people of Karachi.

I am sure that everywhere in the world there are such discrepancies and that most neighborhoods from industrial areas are overcrowded and poor compared to other residencial areas, but I was not ready to see dusty roads, small frail-ready-to-crumble houses, people sleeping under the sky or in improvised tents with all their belongings ready to be packed in one bag and with their goats near their bed.
Public schools and kindergartens were in very bad conditions and I wonder what is the quality of the education that children can get there.
Everything looked barren under the hot summerish sun, but for the people living there that was the normal scenery. Kids were playing in the middle of the street, men were enjoying tea at improvised tables on the side of the road or riding back home to their families after a hard day at work carrying one day's food supplies.
Confronted with that new face of the city I have to admit that I was scared. I was scared because everybody was looking at us and I didn't know what to expect. I was scared not because there was any real threat but because of my own prejudices.
And then after a while, when the fear passed, I was ashamed. I was ashamed and sad that I stumbled and fell in the trap of ignorance and that I was no better that other people who freaked out at the word "Pakistan".
The people in the industrial residential area of Korangi were not criminals or offenders. They were humans, hard working people employed by the big plants of Karachi, payed poorly for their work, forgotten by a state with a semi-nonexistent health and education system.
I wonder if there is a way out for them. I hope that the new mobile school system that Mr Rehan Allahwala presented at TedX would reach the children (and the adults) from that area. I really hope that his Rehan School - Education for everyone for free will help these people see their children living better lives. I pray that the amazing One Rupee Project created by the generous and dedicated Mr Sarfaraz M Khan, Mr Abdul Hameed Kath and Mr Sarosh Waiz will get the support needed in order to change things for the needy people of Pakistan.

Lessons of the day: My fear comes from my ignorance and not from the things around me. New challenges are best faced with an open heart and an open mind.

My Journey to Pakistan: Reaching the end of the world as I knew it - Part 1

Towards the end of April my husband and I, we got invited to participate in a TedX event in Karachi. Because we both are big fans of TED, we gladly accepted the invitation and were very excited to go. On the day of the event we found out that later the same day there will be a family get together at our house, but we excused ourselves saying that we have a very important place to go to.

For the first time before leaving I saw my husband consulting a map to make sure that he knows the way. Now in all fairness, I've to ask why, oh why did the organizers chose that venue. The event was taking place in Korangi, the industrial area of Karachi. At first I was happy I was getting to see some new part of the city. Later on I was just wishing to get home and I felt miserable for my thoughts and self-generated insecurity.

On our way to Korangi we passed through an area full of auto parts shops and mechanics stores and I got to see a lot of colorful trucks parked to get their things done. This is one of the things I love and hate about Karachi: for anything you need, there is a go-to market concentrating about 90% of the activities from particular field. For example if you need paper, there is the paper market, if you need plastic things, there is a plastic market and so on. The good thing is that you always know where to go. The bad thing - sometimes you have to drive long distance to get a small thing. Thank God though for superstores which are now almost everywhere and save the day.

After leaving behind the crowded and noisy area with auto shops, we moved closer towards the industrial Karachi. As we got near, unexpectedly big plants started to pop up. My image of Pakistan was more of a highly agricultural country and I never expected to see such big plants there. From spices to medicine and biscuits everything was produced there. I think the plants have the capacity of employing over 1 million people. At first I said, wow, how huge! But then I remembered that Karachi only has over 15 million living souls.

I was overwhelmed by the traffic and by the fact that we were getting late to the event. We got caught in traffic and turned right a little sooner than we were supposed to. After driving for what seemed to be less than 100 meters, the scenery changed abruptly and I had the feeling that we somehow got carried away in another time and place. What I was seeing around me did not look like 21st century, but more likely like a place where time and progress stood still for few good (tens) years.